


Roses and Ink

by aquaticum



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Gay, Gay Panic, M/M, Pining, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2020-03-04 21:01:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18820660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquaticum/pseuds/aquaticum
Summary: Lance finally opened up his little flower shop: Flores de Lanza. It had been his dream since he was a child, and he had finally done it. Now he was his own boss, plus all of his coworkers were his friends! What could get better than this? Of course, good things never stay for long. The Scarlet Knife Tattoo Parlor opens up across the street. Lance won't admit it, but that tattoo artist with the mullet looks pretty cute...





	1. Introduction: Flores de Lanza

**Author's Note:**

> I've been out of this fandom for a little while, but now I'm rewatching the show and felt inclined to make a Klance fic.

Introduction: Flores de Lanza  
Lance had always loved flowers. When he was a kid, he used to weave the fragile stems of wildflowers into crowns and make them for everybody on his block. His brown hair was always decorated with some sort of flower, whether it came from the ground or was secretly picked off of a neighbor’s bush. “The yellow ones bring out your eyes, mi flor silvestre.” his mother used to say. In his adolescent years, Lance’s friends were the flowers. He pressed them into his books and made the most beautiful wreaths. He never strayed far from flora.

Maybe that’s what prompted him to open up a little flower shop on some popular tourist street (he had already forgotten the address). It was a small place, but the rent certainly was not. But that didn’t really matter to him. All that mattered was that his beautiful little flowers were up on display for the whole world to appreciate. 

The name of the store was Flores de Lanza. It was a small storefront, painted a pale blue with a large glass window that displayed a rainbow of flowers. There were a few hanging plants adorning the roof, like English ivy and fuchsia along with a tacky red hummingbird feeder his mom gave him. A small iron wrought black bench was nestled among the various shrubs and flowerpots. Despite the immense amount of vegetation, the whole space had a neat and cozy vibe. 

Everything was going great for him. He had his own place, his friends were his coworkers, and he was his own boss. Nothing could’ve ruined it for him.

That was, of course, until the Scarlet Knife Tattoo Parlor opened up across the street.


	2. Chapter 1: First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Lance's first day of the job!

Lance yawned and shook his head to get rid of the sleepiness that still clung on. It was the opening day of his shop and he barely had anything ready. Blearily, he turned on the coffee maker and went back to his room to change into his uniform.

Hunk, Pidge, and Allura had all offered to work there. Hunk was saving up for a cafe of his own someday, Allura was smitten with the idea of a flower shop, and Pidge was just there because Lance pleaded to her. But it didn’t matter Pidge’s motives, or anybody’s really. All that mattered was that Lance owned the place of his dreams. As he tied the dark green apron firmly, Lance glanced at the mirror.

Have I… grown taller?

He stared at himself for an unnatural amount of time and then laughed. “I sound just like Mama, don’t I?” He said out loud.

Lance grabbed his cup of coffee and his keys. Today was opening day and he’d be damned if he opened up late. He walked down the stairs carefully as to not spill his mug, and rushed to the door to insert the key. He flipped the cheap plastic sign that cheerily said “Come on in!” on one side and “Closed!” on the other, a gift from Veronica. Lance sighed happily and began to search for the watering can.

The door gave a soft chime. Lance looked up and said, “Welcome to Flores de Lanza! My name is Lance, how - oh, it’s just you.”

His best friend, Hunk, had walked through the door donning the same apron as him. “Great. Thank you. Such a cheery start to my morning.” He replied sarcastically. 

Lance rolled his eyes and told Hunk to help him find the watering can. 

After a while, Pidge and Allura showed up. Allura was positively excited for her new job, even breaking a flowerpot by accident. Lance told her it was totally fine and that there were others just like it in the storeroom, but she wouldn’t stop apologizing the entire day. Pidge was less excited but pretty happy that he allowed her to spend some time on her laptop when there weren’t any customers in the store.

...

“So, Lance, what’s with that tattoo parlor across the street? They look like they mean business,” Pidge casually asked, not bothering to look up from her computer. 

“I hope they’re nice,” Hunk said, waving out the last customer of the day. “I just don’t want to stare at mean people all the time.”

Lance shrugged. “I don’t know, they just started their store around when I did. I’ve never really talked to any of them.”

“Oh, I talked to the owner!” Allura interjected. She had a bit of a dreamy look on her face. “He was actually really cute. Had a name like… Sean? No, that wasn’t it..” 

Pidge gave a short laugh and said teasingly, “You think he’s cute but you don’t even know his name?”

“I do very well know his name! It’s…. Shiro! His name is Shiro.” She crossed her arms defiantly and threw a look at Pidge. “He runs the place with his brother and a couple of friends.”

“Allura, you can’t fraternize with the enemy!” Lance flailed his arms around. “What if they take our customers?” 

“Lance, we’ll be fine.” Hunk assured him with a small smile on his face. He glanced at his watch and exclaimed, “Oh, shoot! It’s almost five! I gotta go, Lance, I’ve got dinner with Shay in an hour.”

“Go have fun with your girlfriend, Hunk.” Lance joked. “Allura, Pidge, you can head home, too. I’ll close up.”

He saw all of them out, grinning from ear to ear. He had completed his first day of work! It felt sort of like a video game where he just leveled up, except the reward was sore legs and some cash. Lance began the nightly check of his plants, making sure they were all happy and healthy. He was bent over some peonies when he heard the door jingle.

“Um, hello?”


	3. Here Comes the Bride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HERE COMES THE BRIDE  
> HIS NAME IS KEITH

“Um, hello?” A soft voice rang through the store. Lance didn’t turn around as he was plucking dead leaves off of his daffodils.

“Sorry, we’re closed right now, you’ll have to come back tomorrow!” He said cheerfully.

“This is something else?” The voice replied, somehow sounding confident and confused at the same time. Lance turned around to find the speaker.

It was a man, around the same age as him. He had a lean build that hinted at muscles and cool black hair that was slicked back into a small ponytail. He was wearing dark, ripped jeans and a short-sleeved red shirt that revealed the stunning Japanese dragon tattoo sleeve on his right arm. His face was narrow with hooded eyes, a small nose, and thin lips. The man’s nails were black and his hands calloused. Lance couldn’t stop thinking about how those hands would feel around-

Nope!

“I’m sorry?” Lance inquired, still staring at the man.

“Um, I’m from that tattoo parlor from across the street. I’m sure you saw us move in.” The man said. Lance gave a brief nod, remembering the conversation he had earlier with Allura. “I’m one of the artists there and all day, I couldn’t stop staring at your flowers. Is there a chance I could buy a few to sketch out?”

Don’t fraternize with the enemy. Don’t fraternize with the enemy. Don’t fraternize with the enemy.

“Sure!” Damnit.

“Thanks so much!” The man’s lips broke into a smile. Lance nearly melted.

After ten minutes of picking and choosing, the man brought his choices to the register. Lance checked them all in and said, “Your total’s gonna be twenty dollars and seventy-five cents.” The man fumbled for his wallet and pulled out the cash. Lance barely concealed the smile when he noticed the wallet was themed with MCR.

When Lance reached out to grab the cash, he accidentally brushed against the other man’s thumb. Immediately, he jolted back as if struck by lightning.

“Is something wrong?” The man’s lips were pulled into a small frown now.

“Everything is totally fine! Nothing wrong here!” He laughed nervously, quickly shoving the cash in the register and handing the plants to him.

“O-Oh,” He stuttered, tucking the flowers safely into his arms. “Well, I’ll head back then, have a nice night..?” Lance nodded for a little while too long and watched him walk out of the door, making sure to get a nice view of his butt.

“Lance!” He said suddenly. “

What?” The man turned around.

“Um, my name is Lance. I didn’t catch yours?”

The man chuckled softly and replied, “Keith. Keith Kogane.” Then he exited the store, the door giving a soft jingle, and Lance watched him walk all the way back to his parlor. He gave a small sigh of relief and looked down at his hand.

_My first time touching a boy and my body goes absolutely fucking bonkers. Just my luck._


	4. Pretty Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance meet unexpectedly for a nighttime chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten about this fic, I swear! I had writer's block for the longest time but this chapter's here now.

Chapter Four  
Lance flopped onto his bed, shoving his wet hair out of his eyes and grabbing his phone. His thoughts immediately went to Keith and he felt his ears go pink. Before moving out to be on his own, Lance had never really thought about dating or romance. It’s not that he didn’t want to be in one, the thought just hadn’t crossed his mind. 

He groaned and rolled over. Now wasn’t the time to be crushing on some stranger he met for this first time! Even though the stranger was charmingly cute and possibly going through an emo phase. Lance shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and started to scroll through his phone. He noticed Hunk’s recent post, which was of him and Shay at some fancy-pants restaurant. A small smile tugged at his lips and he recalled the times before the two were dating. Hunk had a massive crush on Shay, and Shay had a massive crush on Hunk. Neither would admit it. 

Lance happened a glance out towards the window. A tiny flicker of light caught his eye and he looked closer. 

It was Keith, one foot up against the wall of the tattoo parlor, a cigarette between his fingers and his phone in the other. And before Lance knew it, his jacket was on and his shoes hastily shoved onto his feet. He walked down the steps to his store and unlocked the door.

Keith glanced up from his phone and watched Lance make his way over to him.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” He asked.

“You could say that,” Lance replied. 

He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and offered one to Lance. He politely declined. “My momma raised me to believe that cigs are the roots of all evil.”

Keith suddenly busted out laughing, a contrast to the silent night air. “Anything else your momma teach you?”

“To be careful of pretty boys.”

Another fit of laughter from Keith. “That’s amazing. Only thing my mom taught me was to always keep a knife on you.”

Then the pair sat in comfortable silence for a moment or two. Keith took a long drag from his cig and Lance watched him. 

“Tell me about your tattoos,” Lance said. Keith looked curiously at him and put out his cigarette with his heel.  
“My tattoos?”

He nodded.

Keith smiled that little grin that Lance loved so much. He shrugged off his jacket and pointed to his left wrist. “That was my first one. Shiro, actually, gave it to me. It was when he and Adam had just adopted me, I was probably around fifteen?”

“Wait, adopted? I thought you guys were blood brothers.”

He shook his head. “That’s what everybody thinks. My mom left me when I was pretty young, and I was just left to sorta bounce around foster homes. But then I ended up with him and Adam and the tattoo shop and I fell into place.” 

He pointed to another tattoo, a small sleeve on his upper arm. “This is a Japanese tattoo sleeve that I let Shiro practice on me. It’s not really big on meaning, but I think it looks nice.”

This went on for several more minutes. Lance listened intently, eager to learn more and more about him. 

“This one is- shit! The time! I gotta bounce,” Keith said abruptly. “I have an opening shift tomorrow morning.”

Lance nodded and yawned. “Me too, unfortunately.”

The two turned to go their separate ways. Lance’s hand was on the doorknob when he heard Keith say his name. He looked around and saw him halfway up the steps to the apartment above the parlor.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Definitely, pretty boy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! More on the way.


End file.
